Saturday, April 01, 2006

Eric and I had a blast driving over last night - Snoqualmie Pass was beautiful, hardly any traffic. I'd packed us a lunch-type dinner and stashed the cooler right behind the seat, so we cruised. We got into Yakima right as Dick Beardsley started speaking. We listened for a while, then got Eric's packet from Patch and headed over to the hotel. Patch and Sonya stopped by for a few minutes so we could plan the morning. It was warm, partly cloudy. I woke up once during the night to the sound of rain pounding down. Uh-oh.

It was raining hard when Eric got up. He caught a ride with Lesa, Lori and a couple of others over to the shuttle. I got up and got ready to meet Sonya for our run. We were out the door about 6:30. We drove to the finish line and ran into the canyon for 30 minutes, then turned around and came back. The rain was blowing sideways in parts of the canyon and it was bitterly cold, then in other places it was protected from the wind, so not so bad. We were soaked to the skin by the time we finished. We were hoping that the weather in Ellensburg was a little nicer for the marathoners. We went back to the hotel, hit the showers to warm up, and then, surprise! found a Starbucks. We drove back to the finish so we could snag a parking spot. The course was closed and you had to have a spectator pass to drive to the finish area. Once we found our spot, I sacked out (gotta get that morning nap) while Sonya worked a Suduko puzzle. She got out of the car and wandered down the course while I slept. I got up and out in time to see the first place finisher come through. We had our umbrellas out and the cowbells ringing. We saw Mary Hanna (an aquaintence from local races) set a women's course record - and her first sub-three marathon! Cool! Another friend, Gail, came in strong, too. I think she was fourth woman overall.

Eric cruised in looking comfortable and strong at 3:34. He was happy with his time and his first marathon since the injury in October. Lori finished in 4:04 - her first marathon in her goal to become a maniac (as well as her first in the last year). Lesa came in next, then Margaret and Patch. Everyone was happy, they said the rain wasn't too bad, and they weren't too cold till they stopped. We overloaded our Element with five of us (it only seats four) and I ran them back to the civic center where they had left the car this morning. We went back to the hotel, Eric showered and we checked out. I think at least 80% of the people in the hotel were marathoners, and probably a good 15 of them were Maniacs. We met up with the others and went off for lunch. Then after another Starbucks stop, Eric, Lori, Sonya and I drove home. Sonya's husband Patch stayed for the awards dinner and another night there, as did the others.

We had a great drive home, and a good trip over all. This was a very well organized and planned marathon. We noticed it as spectators, and the runners all commented on it too. Eric's next race is the 50K at Mt. Si, when I'm supposed to be running the relay. The doctor told me yesterday that he's not sure I'll have the energy for it, but to wait and see how I feel. Our good friend Rick has said he'll be happy to step in for me at the last minute if I need to bow out.